Facilities

[bbtds]

Facilities are not the the end all be all but it DOES MATTER.

Will the ARC have all the updates that have been listed ad nauseum by many posters happen in our lifetime? Probably not.

[FieldGoodie05]

McDonald's on Calumet is going through a major rehab right now - new brickwork and facade on the outside, complete remodel on the inside. Moreover, for weeks now, alternately, only the inside has been open as they've worked on the outside, and only the drive thru open when they're working inside. And for what? I seldom if ever see the inside seating area full. Typically, it's not much more than half full, even at the busiest times. So here they are, spending an outlandish amount of money to serve the same food to the same customers at the same price. Obviously, McDonalds has no idea what it's doing.

I disagree, presentation and brand is mostly what they are.  Quality of food is mehh, but those Golden Arches are worth their weight in gold.  I travel for a living and look for "known quantities" above all else.  If McDonalds in Valpo sizes markets slip on quality or presentation, ppl like myself rethink going there nationally. Burger King cleanliness and presentation lost my business decades ago.  Brand is quite important.

I take it picking up on sarcasm is not your strong suit... re: "Obviously, McDonalds has no idea what it's doing"

If that's a veiled attempt at pushing for a renovated ARC I see nearly zero comparable value.

Valpo is a university, not a professional basketball team. 

[VU2014]

If that's a veiled attempt at pushing for a renovated ARC I see nearly zero comparable value.

Valpo is a university, not a professional basketball team. 

And we throw nickels around like manhole covers around here.

[VU2014]

Yeah... it doesn't look like we're getting renovations anytime soon but we can still eventually be competitive in this league. This is a rough season but it will get better.

https://twitter.com/Brett_Crawford/status/961775880304545793

[usc4valpo]

goodie, a university in 2018 should have AC in their main athletic facility

[VUGrad1314]

goodie, a university in 2018 should have AC in their main athletic facility

This is undeniably and indisputably true.

[FieldGoodie05]

goodie, a university in 2018 should have AC in their main athletic facility

I appreciate you think that, not arguing that.  But our dorms have no AC.  I'm suggesting logic, the dorms are far more important than a gym used primarily from Sept to March!!!

[wh]

goodie, a university in 2018 should have AC in their main athletic facility

I appreciate you think that, not arguing that.  But our dorms have no AC.  I'm suggesting logic, the dorms are far more important than a gym used primarily from Sept to March!!!

They're both important. This is 2018, not 1988. A/C is not a luxury in today's America. It's unbelievable that the University continues to erect fancy building after fancy building but cries poor when it comes to maintaining and upgrading what they already have to meet today's standards.

[usc4valpo]

The arc is used all year around for events

[vuny98]

McDonald's on Calumet is going through a major rehab right now - new brickwork and facade on the outside, complete remodel on the inside. Moreover, for weeks now, alternately, only the inside has been open as they've worked on the outside, and only the drive thru open when they're working inside. And for what? I seldom if ever see the inside seating area full. Typically, it's not much more than half full, even at the busiest times. So here they are, spending an outlandish amount of money to serve the same food to the same customers at the same price. Obviously, McDonalds has no idea what it's doing.

I disagree, presentation and brand is mostly what they are.  Quality of food is mehh, but those Golden Arches are worth their weight in gold.  I travel for a living and look for "known quantities" above all else.  If McDonalds in Valpo sizes markets slip on quality or presentation, ppl like myself rethink going there nationally. Burger King cleanliness and presentation lost my business decades ago.  Brand is quite important.

I take it picking up on sarcasm is not your strong suit... re: "Obviously, McDonalds has no idea what it's doing"

If that's a veiled attempt at pushing for a renovated ARC I see nearly zero comparable value. Valpo is a university, not a professional basketball team.

The point is complacency kills. A new ARC wont instantly make the team better, won't instantly bring in better attendance, won't magically improve recruiting, wont suddenly drive student interest up. Just like renovating a McDonald's won't instantly drive more traffic and sales. But as you pointed out yourself by admitting Burger King lost your business years ago, the risk of not doing that can be dire. The more we let the ARC slip further and further behind the more we risk getting to a point where we go from a premier mid major program to just another face in the crowd. And the climb back up is much harder than maintaining momentum.

[crusadermoe]

I never knew that some dorms still lack A.C.     

I agree with you that is highly irritating that the university continues to erect super-sized glistening buildings for academic classrooms that consume high AC/heating bills, but doesn't raise current ones to logical levels.   I am guessing each student in the library or union as about 5,000 personal square feet to himseslf in off-peak hours.

And of course,.......enrollment has not risen to justify the size of these new buildings of library, union, and etc.     If enrollment were stronger, there would be no logical question of adding A-C.   

If we build it (swanky large buildings)...........will they come?   The classic Kevin Koster vision.  So far the answer is a resounding NO. 

[usc4valpo]

Is Valpo so strapped for cash that they cannot upgrade existing buildings, or at least key buildings, with AC? Seriously?

[FieldGoodie05]

Is Valpo so strapped for cash that they cannot upgrade existing buildings, or at least key buildings, with AC? Seriously?

I see it as fiscally conservative, but that's because I am as well.  You all make good points about AC at the very least.  I'm a fat guy, AC is wonderful!  But my thought process says why put lipstick on a pig. 

If I have exactly (1) budget item available I go after completely upgrading a dorm (ground up) as opposed to AC in both facilities with numerous little upgrades.

Why spend any money on surface level items that add up quickly IF you have structural needs that aren't addressed by surface level improvements.

[usc4valpo]

The ARC is 34 year old. I am sure an AC system can be added tot he ventilation. It will also not break the bank as there is a $300 endowment.

Also, putting lipstick on a pig, indicates the apathy toward what basketball has done for this university.

[FieldGoodie05]

The ARC is 34 year old. I am sure an AC system can be added tot he ventilation. It will also not break the bank as there is a $300 endowment.

Also, putting lipstick on a pig, indicates the apathy toward what basketball has done for this university.

Endowment means cash in hand right!?!?!? 🤔

Aren't endowments mostly promises and best scenario dreaming?  Difference between VU and Gov't is that VU has repercussions of improper spend.  Wright State can speak to that, oh wait....they get tax payer money in this public sector blank check world.

We don't have that sort of backup parachute.  The same qualities that make VU attractive (Lutheran for example) are also the same values that make their ruling body fiscally conservative.

I don't disagree with you USC, but VU can't run itself like nearing bankruptcy IL.

[FWalum]

I agree with you that is highly irritating that the university continues to erect super-sized glistening buildings for academic classrooms that consume high AC/heating bills, but doesn't raise current ones to logical levels.   I am guessing each student in the library or union as about 5,000 personal square feet to himseslf in off-peak hours.

I believe that all of these new buildings are built to LEED standards, in other words about as Green as you can get. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance and sustainable design of a building.

[a3uge]

I never knew that some dorms still lack A.C.     

I agree with you that is highly irritating that the university continues to erect super-sized glistening buildings for academic classrooms that consume high AC/heating bills, but doesn't raise current ones to logical levels.   I am guessing each student in the library or union as about 5,000 personal square feet to himseslf in off-peak hours.

And of course,.......enrollment has not risen to justify the size of these new buildings of library, union, and etc.     If enrollment were stronger, there would be no logical question of adding A-C.   

If we build it (swanky large buildings)...........will they come?   The classic Kevin Koster vision.  So far the answer is a resounding NO.

I can't even imagine the old library, but the new library is typically slammed with students. The entrance hall gets used a ton, and the study tables on the 3rd and 4th floors are usually full. Quiet rooms are virtually impossible to get without resorting to violence.

As for the Union, they consolidated 4 or 5 dining halls to one area. I still contend the rec area was built too small. Perhaps there's wasted space in both places, but these two buildings get a ton of use.

Many arguments that have been said about the ARC or lack of a new rec center could have been said about the old library and union. Other than academics, the university couldn't win on dorms, student activities, dining, things to do, etc. Having windowless dungeons for academic buildings (Gelerson) doesn't help either.

I think the university needs a rec center, simply for student recruiting, but I think it would have been absurd to upgrade the ARC before getting the union situation under control. Also, there was clearly a donor for the Union. There's not one for a rec center because our big donors aren't huge sports fans.

[usc4valpo]

Similar to business, when you get overly frugal, you miss opportunities and you looking at the tree rather than the forest. This over frugality can detriment student enrollment. No AC in the main athletic facility is being cheap. Regarding dorms, allow students to bring in units to the windows - but oh no, electric energy consumption will increase!

[valpo64]

Info, there are a number of dorms at Indiana University that are NOT air conditioned.

[VU2014]

Since most of our athletics events are played in the Fall, Winter and Spring the ARC have AC isn't really the biggest issue in the grand scheme of things, particularly during basketball season it's not a issue at all. The Volleyball team might have a complaint during the September it can get really hot in there but most of the time it's fine, imo. Have AC at Hilltop was a very important upgrade for teams practicing in there during the summer.

[VULB#62]

Re: Softball 2018-19
« Reply #7 on: Today at 10:45:29 AM »

The bubble is the dome in Crown Point. Several of our teams use it as it's big enough to practice punting, hitting or play mulitple soccer games. It's been a good resource for the teams in these winter conditions even if it's a bit of a drive

http://www.spartadome.com/

Something to be filed away for future consideration.  Based on the presumed order of athletic facility development ( i.e., build Field House/Recreaction Facility first then renovate the ARC) which would involve double digit millions to accomplish, might it be less financially onerous to do an interim stage where a new turf soccer/all purpose field gets built where the 30 year plan indicates it will go anyway, and in doing so, also add a bubble over it like the Spartadome.  This would add a badly needed separate practice facility for soccer in the fall and offseason and take a great deal of pressure off the ARC in terms of other team usage during the winter months.  This could greatly facilitate the renovation timetable of the ARC (if it is ever going to be renovated).  Somewhere down the road the more permanent facility identified in the 30-year plan can be built.  Another example of this is that Concordia St. Paul (NCAA D-II) bubbled over their entire football field to provide extra athletic space.  Total cost of the whole Sea Foam FB stadium complex (including new FB grandstands/pressbox, all-weather 400 meter track, and the dome) was $8 million. It supports approximately 300 CSP athletes.

http://cspbears.com/facilities/?id=76

This idea would be a lot less expensive.  Even cheaper would be to just modify Brown Field to allow for doming over of the playing surface in late November to the end of March.  This lessens congestion in tghe ARC and removes the obstacle of where do non-BB teams practice while the ARC undergoes renovation (expansion?).  BTW, CSP runs community programs in their dome and makes a little rental money off that along the way. 

[78crusader]

I'm going to bet the administration chooses to move the business school to the law building. 

The problem, as I pointed out previously, is that the law building will need to be repurposed, the cost of which will take away from any other building project the university has in mind.

In addition, the area just east of the law building is, well, terrible.  Stand across the street from the old Theta Chi house and look west.  The open lot and the apartment buildings to the south (where I think there used to be, for lack of a better team, quonset-style housing) is an eyesore.  It does not feel like part of campus to me.  I think a new building should go in the open field, which would help connect the old part of campus to the new.  Unfortunately, the university will probably decide to turn it into a parking lot.

Paul

[vu72]

I'm going to bet the administration chooses to move the business school to the law building. 

The problem, as I pointed out previously, is that the law building will need to be repurposed, the cost of which will take away from any other building project the university has in mind.

In addition, the area just east of the law building is, well, terrible.  Stand across the street from the old Theta Chi house and look west.  The open lot and the apartment buildings to the south (where I think there used to be, for lack of a better team, quonset-style housing) is an eyesore.  It does not feel like part of campus to me.  I think a new building should go in the open field, which would help connect the old part of campus to the new.  Unfortunately, the university will probably decide to turn it into a parking lot.

Paul

You are on! 

[crusader05]

I doubt any academic buildings go west as the main plan is consolidate them to the East of campus. As for the empty field. That lot has been reserved for a potential moving of the Sig Ep house So I believe it's on hold for now.

My guess is that if they do something with the Law School Buildings It will be a joint venture with the community or some sort of experiential learning center rather than a straight class room building. Can't really do much about the privately owned apartments other than hope that they eventually go up for sale and get torn down and replaced. I could imagine a scenario where, as more fraternities are built along Union street, apartments closer the Greek Row become in demand by college students and maybe more lucrative.

[VUGrad1314]

One of the biggest benefits of moving to the MVC was shown by Loyola's run: if we and the rest of the conference can keep the success going and rack up more units it will be easier to complete some of the main upgrades we have been clamoring for: the extra money could help finance dorm renovations which will attract more students and tuition dollars which helps the rec center come to fruition and finally ARC RENOVATIONS! I realize that without big donations this is still years away but I can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel.